Method and system for predicting the services needs of remote point of sale devices

Abstract

A method, system and apparatus for identifying malfunctioning remote devices, such as point of sale devices, are disclosed. In operation, a performance history for one or more remote devices is built and a normal operating day is determined from the performance history. Also extracted from this performance history are average and variance values for various aspects of satisfactory remote device performance. During remote device evaluations, the current operating performance of each remote device is compared with the normal day and the average and variance values for the respective remote device. For remote devices operating outside of the normal day, average and variances values, a likelihood estimate that the remote device is actually malfunctioning is calculated. For remote devices determined likely to be malfunctioning, an approximation of the remote device's losses are made such that the remote device with the greatest losses may be prioritized for maintenance or other purposes.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A remotely located point of sale device comprising:
 at least one application controller operably coupled to the remotely located point of sale device; 
 the application controller having at least one microprocessor operably coupled to at least one memory device; 
 the application controller operable to communicate at least one operational characteristic of the remotely located point of sale device to at least one destination; 
 a program of instructions storable in the at least one memory device and executable in the at least one microprocessor; and 
 the program of instructions operable to build a performance history based on the at least one operational characteristic of the remotely located point of sale device, to identify a standard measure of satisfactory, periodic performance for the remotely located point of sale device based on the performance history, to identify operational characteristics of the remotely located point of sale device based on the standard measure of satisfactory, periodic performance, to compare a current operational characteristic of the remotely located point of sale device to the standard measure of satisfactory, periodic performance and identify differences that exceed the standard measure of satisfactory, periodic performance, to evaluate the differences that exceed the standard measure of satisfactory, periodic performance and determine if the differences indicate a malfunction of the remotely located point of sale device and to approximate economic losses resulting from the malfunction. 
 
     
     
       2. The remotely located point of sale device of  claim 1  further comprising a vending machine. 
     
     
       3. The remotely located point of sale device of  claim 1  further comprising the program of instructions operable to determine whether the differences are within a tolerable variance. 
     
     
       4. The remotely located point of sale device of  claim 1  further comprising the program of instructions operable to maintain a rolling performance history of remotely located point of sale device operational performance. 
     
     
       5. The remotely located point of sale device of  claim 1  further comprising the program of instruction operable to calculate a confidence interval to indicate the likelihood that the differences that exceed the standard measure of satisfactory, periodic performance indicate a remotely located point of sale device operational malfunction. 
     
     
       6. A remote device management system comprising:
 a plurality of remote devices operably coupled to a wide area network; 
 at least one remote device selected from the group consisting of a vending machine, a remote point of sale device, an industrial machine, an ice machine, a dispensing device or a beverage dispensing device; 
 a network operations center operably coupled to the wide area network; 
 the network operations center having at least one wide area network interface and at least one control; 
 the network operations center operable to communicate with the at least one remote device via the wide area network interface and via the wide area network; and 
 the network operations center control operable to build an operational performance history for the at least one remote device, identify a standard measure of satisfactory performance for the remote device, generate parameters of satisfactory performance for the remote device, and identify remote devices likely to be malfunctioning based on differences between the standard measure of satisfactory performance and current operational characteristics of the remote device when the differences exceed the parameters of satisfactory performance for the remote device. 
 
     
     
       7. The remote device management system of  claim 6  further comprising the network operations center control operable to approximate economic losses resulting from a malfunctioning remote device. 
     
     
       8. The remote device management system of  claim 7  further comprising the network operations center control operable to prioritize remote device maintenance according to the approximated economic losses. 
     
     
       9. The remote device management system of  claim 6  further comprising the network operations center control operable to maintain a rolling operational performance history for each remote device. 
     
     
       10. The remote device management system of  claim 6  further comprising the network operations center control operable to calculate a likelihood estimator to identify any remote device likely to be malfunctioning. 
     
     
       11. The remote device management system of  claim 10  further comprising the network operations center control operable to calculate the likelihood estimator using a binomial distribution.